UCHSK Formal Stall – Our Community Has Been Amazing!      

In the lead-up to this year's Year 10 Formal, the UCHSK P&C has brought back something a little special — our Formal Shop, where students can browse, try on and choose formalwear completely free of charge.

The idea grew from a heartfelt request from our outgoing P&C President, Kimberly, who asked us to continue the P&C's legacy of helping students access formal-wear and make sure this support remained available to our young people.

With that request in mind, we set about creating the 2026 Formal Stall.

We put a call out for donations of dresses, suits, shirts, shoes and accessories, and the response has been incredible. What started within our own school community quickly spread across Canberra, with families, individuals and local businesses all wanting to help.

Before long, beautiful dresses, suits, shirts, shoes, jewelry, ties, handbags and accessories were arriving at the school, and by the time we opened the doors for our first session, there were racks and racks for our students to explore.

And honestly, the best part was simply watching them shop.

Students browsed the racks, tried on different styles, helped each other make choices and started putting together their Formal looks. Seeing students walk away with something they genuinely loved, feeling comfortable, confident and excited about their upcoming Formal, made all the work behind the scenes worthwhile.

A very special thank you to Tiffany

We were also incredibly lucky to have Tiffany Long from The Long Style join us for our first session and generously volunteer her time and professional styling expertise.

Tiffany helped students explore different options, put outfits together and work out those little finishing touches. More importantly, she made the experience relaxed and comfortable and encouraged students to find a look that felt right for them.

And they looked amazing!

We are so grateful to Tiffany for giving her time and expertise so generously to our students.

We're not quite finished yet

The Year 10 Formal isn't until December, so we'll keep checking in with the school and our students as the big day gets closer. If there are students who haven't found what they're looking for, or who would simply like another opportunity to have a look through the collection, we'll consider opening the Formal Shop again before the Formal.

Beyond this year, we hope to honour Kimberly's request and keep this wonderful initiative going for future Year 10 students.  If you think you might have something suitable tucked away in your wardrobe, we'd love to hear from you. And if you don't, simply sharing our request with friends and family might help us reach someone who does. Donations can be dropped off at the University of Canberra High School Kaleen Front Office, 104 Baldwin Drive, Kaleen.

Thank You!

What our community has helped build this year has the potential to support students for many years to come, and that is something pretty special.

To our UCHSK families, the wider Canberra community, local businesses, everyone who donated something, shared one of our posts, told a friend or helped us along the way, thank you!

And another very special thank you to Tiffany for giving our students not only her professional expertise, but her time, encouragement and support.

For us, the Formal Shop has become about much more than finding something to wear. It's about choice, confidence, inclusion and community, and helping our students head into their Year 10 Formal feeling good about themselves and excited for their big night.

We couldn't have done it without you. 💙

UCHSK P&C